ISLAMABAD, 29 August 2007 — Pro-Taleban militants from Mehsud tribe freed 18 soldiers and a government official yesterday after they were kidnapped near the Afghan border earlier this month, the army and the militants said.
Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said the hostages were released in South Waziristan, a stronghold of pro-Taleban militants in the lawless frontier region.
A militant leader, Rehmanullah Mehsud, said the captives were handed over to tribal elders in Kaniguram, a village in South Waziristan.
Escorted by elders, the 19 men arrived at an army base in Wana, the main town of South Waziristan, said Khaista Khan, a local government official.
Khan praised tribal elders and some lawmakers from the region who had helped secure the hostages’ release.
However, he declined to comment on whether the militants had placed any conditions on their release.
According to media reports, the kidnappers had demanded the release of jailed comrades and a pullback of troops during negotiations mediated by tribal elders, clerics and lawmakers belonging to an religious political party.
However, Arshad said on Geo television news that the hostages were released unconditionally.
Militants seized 16 paramilitary soldiers after they left their base in a van on Aug. 9. One was later decapitated and his body dumped in a soccer filed in the town of Jandola.
The other freed captives were an army colonel., two soldiers and a security official who were seized last week near Laddha, another village in South Waziristan.
